Our Absolute Balance
by Ninja19
Summary: Now that Riku has been chosen as keyblade master, Sora has to step up his game to match against Riku. Even though its a difficult task. But when someone from darkness, Vanitas, offers to train Sora to get stronger, will he do it? And just what are Vanitas' intentions, to capture Sora or make him fall into darkness? Or perhaps something else? Might change rated later... SoRiku!
1. Dark Encounter

Hope you enjoy the chapter! **Read and Review!**

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I'm still debating which couple to pick... Sora/Riku or Sora/Vanitas... Hmmm? What do you guys think?!

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Sora was walking near Twilight Town, trying to find any heartless or nobodies he could eliminate. But at last there was nothing.

He sighed. "There's not much to do now." He said aloud to himself, thinking. Ever since the Mark of Mastery Exam, Sora had been trying to train his hardest to improve his keyblade skills. Riku was chosen as the keyblade master so now Sora had to match up against him.

Sora since then devoted himself to doing missions and tasks to improve his strength, which was beginning to prove difficult. Instead of thinking negative Sora remain optimistic so he wouldn't be doubting himself.

"I can do it!" He exclaimed, determined.

"Can you?" a voiced called out.

Sora quickly summon his keyblade. "Who's there?" He looked around, only to see that there was nothing there.

Sora chuckled. "I must be exhausted. I'm starting to hear voices." He decided to go back to Yen Sid's Tower. As he was walking away, a black figure appeared from the shadows, smirking.

* * *

After twenty minutes, Sora arrived at Yen Sid's Tower, he saw Kairi and Lea practicing fighting outside. He smiled faintly before going inside the Tower.

As he closed the door, he saw Riku walking down the hall and grinned.

"Hey, Riku!" Sora greeted happily.

"Hey, Sora." Riku waved in a calm manner.

"Hey, I was wondering if you want to go to this new world with me and look around." He said hopefully, with hint of pleading in his voice.

Riku frowned. "Sorry Sora, but I'm real busy, I have to go on a important mission right now."

"Oh.. Well, I can join you if you want!" Sora offered with a lopsided smile.

Riku scratched the back of his neck. "... It's too dangerous Sora. Its better if you just stay here." Riku replied, sighing.

"Oh, okay..." Sora said sadly. He began walking away from his best friend, not wanting to hear what else Riku had to say. After all... everything had been said.

Riku raised his arm, attempting to call Sora back, but stopped. His hand made a fist and lowered to his side. He couldn't risk losing Sora, he was almost lost in darkness and Riku wouldn't let that happen again. He'd make sure it wouldn't.

"I'm sorry, Sora..." Riku whispered, apologetically. He hesitated, staring the way Sora went, then opened the door leading outside.

Sora walked upstairs with a solemn expression, deep down he was saddened. Riku had been very distant lately, and it made Sora think that he wanted nothing to do with him.

He entered his sparsely furnished room, stumbling towards his bed and falling on it with a thump. He failed to notice the mysterious figure that was leaning on the wall across the room, eyeing him.

"Why am I being left out? Why am I so weak!?" Sora demanded loudly, frustrated.

"You're only weak because you want to be." The strange figured replied.

Sora's eyes widened in fear, and he sat up quickly. "Who are you?" He questioned, his back hitting the wall, looking directly at the black-clad stranger. He couldn't see his face because of the mask he was wearing.

The stranger chuckled. "I've been call many names. But now I'm known as Vanitas."

"Vanitas?... Well, what do you want?" Sora shouted, wanting to know what business Vanitas had.

"I can't tell you, idiot. I'm just here to give you a proper greeting." Vanitas raised his hands to his mask and slowly took it off. Revealing himself to look exactly like Sora, except his hair was black and his eyes golden.

Sora gaped at what he was seeing. "I seen you before with young Xehanort!" Sora rushed up and ran towards the door, trying to get away. He tried to reach for the door knob, but he was stopped by Vanitas throwing him across the room.

"So you do remember me? I'm honored. I guess Ventus is still afraid of me." he stated with a grin, knowing that if Sora could see him it was because of Ventus's heart.

What? Who's Ventus?, Sora thought confused. Did he hurt someone else?, he continued thinking as anger was beginning to rise.

Sora gritted his teeth and summoned his keyblade, preparing for a fight.

"Easy, I'm just doing a greeting. Besides do you really want to battle someone from the darkness like me?" Vanitas asked with a serious tone.

"I will if it means defeating you! How did you even enter the tower? It prevents darkness from entering, it has a strong defense and protection." Sora question, gripping the keyblade with both his hands.

"For a keyblade wielder, you sure are stupid. I'm connected with Ventus's heart so since you have his heart, you have me as well, in a way. So I can enter undetected because of you." Vanitas explained smirking.

"What?.. He's in my heart?" Sora asked, shocked. He never knew someone else was in his heart, the brunette thought only Roxas would be inside since he's his nobody.

"Yeah. I'll prove it." Vanitas summoned his black keyblade, and stalked towards Sora.

"Get away!" Sora tried to attack, but Vanitas simply blocked it. Sora tried to yell for help as Vanitas was getting closer.

"Donald! Goofy! Kairi! Lea!" Sora screamed loudly, hoping someone could hear him.

Sora stepped back, only to be cornered at the wall near his bed. "Riku..." He called out lowly, fear getting the best of him as Vanitas kept coming closer. He was feeling hopeless since he couldn't defeat someone from the darkness. He didn't even know if he could anymore. Sora felt so weak as fear got the best of him.

Vanitas halted for a moment, sensing something. "Damn, I don't have much time. See you around Sora." He disappeared into a black portal but before he left he pointed the keyblade at Sora and fired a bolt of magic at him.

"What the hel-" He passed out, falling onto the bed. His keyblade slipped from his hands as Sora let it drop to the ground, vanishing.

* * *

"Sora!?" Someone shook him, causing the brunette to become wide awake.

"What?!" Sora bolted up from his sleep, shouting, summoning his keyblade again.

"Whoa! Easy Sora, it's just me, Lea. Get it memorized." Lea said, putting his arms in the air to indicate that there's no threat.

"What happened?" Sora asked while looking around the room, his keyblade vanishing since there was no danger.

"You tell me. We heard you shouting from your room. You okay?" Lea was concerned, both he and Kairi had heard Sora calling for help.

Suddenly Sora remembered what happened. His meeting with Vanitas!

"No, someone was here! It was Vanitas, he was in my room!" Sora panicked and was still confused. what did Vanitas want?

"Who's Vanitas? Sora, are you sure? We would have noticed if someone entered the tower." Lea didn't seem convinced, he and Kairi were outside and saw nothing strange or anyone entering the tower.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I am serious! He was going to attack me with his keyblade. I don't know what he wanted, but he was here."

"But you were asleep, you could have dreamt it." Lea said, trying to calm Sora.

"He was here!" Sora fumed. Why didn't Lea believe him?

"Okay then, let's go to Yen Sid and see what he can do." Lea suggested, he didn't want to argue with Sora. He may have been the kindest guy but when you pissed him it was a different story. Never make a kind person angry, Lea knew that because of Kairi.

Sora nodded and rushed to the door to go find Yen Sid. He failed to noticed Lea's expression. Which had doubt.

Lea followed after him. He was wondering who Vanitas was, and he'd find out once Yen Sid explained everything.

When they arrived at Yen Sid's office they knocked. "Yen Sid, can we come in, it's really important?" Sora exclaimed, pounding his fist on the door loudly.

Lea quickly grabbed his wrist so Sora couldn't knock any further. "Sora, calm down. Maybe he's busy."

Sora narrowed his eyes, "What's your problem?! This could be very urgent! Why aren't you being serious?" Sora replied with a firm tone and pried his wrist from Lea's grasp.

"I am being serious, but I think you were just having a bad dream... A nightmare!" Lea admitted.

Sora's eyes widened in disbelief. "You think I'm making this up? That it was nothing but a dream? Well, it was real and I saw him!" He scoffed, hurt that Lea didn't believe him.

"Sora, I'm just-" Lea didn't finish as Yen Sid's door mysteriously opened, meaning that they could enter.

Sora didn't bother to look at Lea and entered the room. Lea sighed, entering right behind him. The office was large, the walls lined with shelves of books. Yen Sid was sitting behind his desk, waiting for them. "Sora, what can I do for you?" He asked.

"Master Yen Sid, I saw someone named Vanitas in my room," Sora stated as he took a step forward.

Yen Sid's eyes widened. "Vanitas? Are you sure, Sora?" He stood up and started to become concerned.

"Yes! Who is Vanitas?" Sora asked. He had never heard of him and only saw a glimpse of Vanitas once.

"He was created by embodiment of the darkness in Ventus's heart and was Master Xehanort's creation," He explained. Lea gaped at hearing that, someone like Vanitas was in the tower.

Sora gasped, "What? So he's with Xehanort, the main one?!"

"Yes, but he was defeated by Aqua, another keyblade wielder, long ago. It could be possible that Xehanort had brought Vanitas back somehow." Yen Sid stroke his long beard thinking. "If what you say is true, Sora, then how was he able to get inside the tower? The spells are strong enough to stop even Xehanort from entering or coming nearby. Unless something here has Vanitas linked in a way that can make him undetectable?" He mused.

When Yen Sid said the last part Sora tensed. He knew why then? 'I'm connected with Ventus's heart so since you have his heart, you have me as well, in a way. So I can enter undetected because of you.' He remembered Vanitas saying those words.

So it's because of me, Sora thought deeply, frowning.

"What would happened if we found the link?" Sora asked curiously.

"We would have to destroy it, we can't have something here that's from pure darkness. It could only make Vanitas stronger and he could easily taint the other keyblade wielders with his darkness," Yen Sid replied seriously.

Sora gulped nervously. So if they find out I'm the link to Vanitas, would I be destroyed? Sora thought. He was now worried about his life and what would be the outcome of everything.

"Is that necessary?" Sora spoke up boldly.

Both Lea and Yen Sid looked at Sora, shocked. "What do you mean, is it necessary? Of course it is! The life of others could be at stake, don't you care at all!" Lea yelled at Sora. His anger rose at the thought that Sora would ask such a question.

"Sora, do you know something?" Yen Sid walked towards Sora, waiting for an answer.

"No!" Sora exclaimed quickly. "I mean, no. It's just, maybe it wasn't real, maybe it was a nightmare. I've been having nightmares lately," He admitted. "And I don't want to make a big deal out of this just because it was a stupid nightmare," Sora lied smoothly.

"Very well. If something like this occurs again, tell me. Before it's too late." Yen Sid warned.

"I will. Sorry to trouble you, Master Yen Sid. The nightmare must have gotten the best of me." Sora grimaced.

"Do be aware then." Yen Sid went back to his desk and sat down, while both Sora and Lea left the room.

Sora was deep in thought about the situation and Vanitas, but he was abruptly interrupted when Lea called, "Sora?!"

"Yeah?"

"What was that about?" Lea raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Sora pretended not to know what he was talking about because he couldn't trust anyone about this right now. Well maybe Riku. But Riku only.

Lea huffed, "I mean you got offended earlier because I didn't believe you. And now you said it was a nightmare?! What gives?"

"Maybe you were right, it was just a nightmare. I shouldn't even be worried." Sora chuckled half heartedly, lying. He needed to think of something, how to stop Vanitas.

"I'm getting tired and need to rest. I'll see you later, Lea." Sora said. leaving to return to his room.

Lea didn't believe Sora, he knew there was something else going on. But what?

* * *

**Author's Note...** I just want to say I'm sorry for not updating any of my other stories! Its been like what? a month or two... I feel awful. So Sorry its cause of dang summer school, I regret taking it now... But its almost over one more month to go! Then back to normal! But I'll try this week to update a chapter to my other stories! I recently been getting ideas as well so that's a help! Anyways back to this story, I dreamt it and decided to right about it! Hope you enjoy!

Let me know what you think! And if any ideas please share or make suggestions! I sometimes take them into considerations!

**Read and Review Please!... **I'll go faster


	2. Memories being Reality

Hope you enjoy the chapter! **Read and Review!**

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Its been decided! Sora/Riku! But some people pm me that they wanted Vanitas/Sora... so after thinking on it, the first part will have slight Vansor then after that Soriku. To make everyone happy!

Also this chapter might be confusing so read sharply!

_Italics- Ventus and Vanitas talking in the dream (Note: Sora is dreaming of Ventus' memories and seeing them like they were real, but he isn't aware that there Ventus' memories just yet.)_

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As Sora was in bed sleeping he was having various dreams of someone he never seen before. He was stirring in his slumber, moving back and fourth, confused by what was going on. He could see it as if he was inside his own mind.

_...Dreaming..._

_"Its you?! Who are you, and why do you keep following me?"_ _a blonde teen identical to Roxas shouted, while looking at the boy in the mask. _

Sora could see everything clearly in his dream. It was like he was watching his memories, expect they weren't his. Whose were they? "Is that Roxas?," Sora wondered, looking at the mysterious blonde teen. He was in his dream but he was a phantom, no one seemed to notice him as he walked around and saw the strangers. "They can't see me?"

_"You sure ask a lot of questions, don't you?" The masked boy said, chuckling cynically. _

Sora's eyes widened. He knew who it was. Vanitas! "Why am I dreaming this?" Sora said to himself. He never once saw Vanitas in person before, today being the first time, so how was it possible? He watched the others closely, going closer to hear their conversation.

_"I've had enough of your games. Tell me who you are or else!" The stranger said angrily, summoning his keyblade. _

_"Ventus, Ventus, Ventus. You're making this too easy." Vanitas mocked, smirking, and also summoned his black keyblade. _

"Ventus? Where have I heard of that name before?" Sora pondered, looking at the others who were going to engage in a fight. "Oh yeah. Vanitas mention him? So that's him... Ventus..." He looked at the blonde teen across him. "He looks so much like Roxas." Why is that?

_"You shouldn't take me so lightly! I'll defeat you!" Ventus replied, determined. He rushed at Vanitas, ready to attack him, but suddenly Vanitas disappeared. "What the? Where did you go?!" He looked around alarmed. _

_Vanitas appeared behind him, smirking._

Sora gaped. "Ventus looked out, behind you!" He shouted to Ventus, but Sora forgot he couldn't be heard either.

_Vanitas struck Ventus with his keyblade from behind, causing him to crash to the ground. "AHHH!"_

"Ventus!" Sora rushed to him, concerned by his injury. As he tried to grab him, his hands went through Ventus. "How can I be dreaming this?! It looks so real and feels like I'm actually here!" Sora exclaimed. What was going on? Was this a dream or something more?!

_"So what was that about you defeating me, Ventus?" Vanitas sneered, as he stalked towards the helpless blonde on the ground. "You can't even defeat a simple heartless or unversed, so what makes you think you can defeat me, someone from pure darkness?" Vanitas scoffed. _

_"I may not defeat you now, but I know deep down you're afraid of me because of my light." Ventus stated, coughing from the blow he'd just taken. He slowly stumbled up, hold the keyblade tightly. _

_Vanitas growled. "Such mighty words for someone so weak." _

_"Weak or not, I will stop you!" Ventus aimed the keyblade at him in a swift movement. Vanitas managed to block the attack in a nick of time. Both keyblades clashed against each other, both equally matched in strength. _

Sora was amazed that Ventus didn't give up, but kept trying and trying. Even though he didn't stand a chance against Vanitas he didn't give up. "Ventus..." he whispered with empathy.

_"You just can't give up." Vanitas got the upper hand with the keyblade as he swung harder. Ventus jumped back to avoid the attack this time._

_"I won't," he rushed to try to hit Vanitas and used the same move Vanitas did when he attacked earlier, he disappeared. Vanitas was caught off guard as Ventus appeared right in front of him, striking him with all his strength! _

_The mask slowly fell from Vanitas' head, breaking in the process. Ventus turned around to finally see who was wearing the mask. But was shocked to see Vanitas' face and darkness was suddenly overflowing from him. _

_"Just who are you?" _

_"Vanitas! And now we will have to be joined together." His darkness burst out everywhere, consuming Ventus in the process, his keyblade vanishing. _

Sora's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Did this really happen in reality or was it merely a dream? Or, both. "I want to wake up now!" Sora declared, frightened. This was beginning to become a nightmare.

_Ventus began to panic, "What is this?" His feet began sinking into the darkness towards the ground. "HELP! I can't get out!" Ventus screeched, struggling to escape. _

_"Don't fight it, just embrace it." Vanitas smirked triumphantly. _

Sora sprinted to Ventus, trying to help. "Ventus fight it! You can beat the darkness!" He tried to grabbed the blonde only to once again go through him. "I feel so useless," Sora thought, frustrated. He clenched his fists bitterly.

_"Aqua, Terra! Anyone!" Ventus screamed, his voice starting to get hoarse as he sank deeper into the darkness, reaching to his shoulders already. _

_"It's useless to call for help now. No one will help you." _

Sora growled in anger. "Leave him alone! Why are you doing this, he never did anything to you!" He fumed, narrowing his eyes at Vanitas, but it was worthless since Vanitas couldn't see him.

_"AHHH! Someone please help!" Ventus' head was swallowed up by the darkness, the last thing that was seen was Ventus' pained expression. _

"NOO! VENTUS!" Sora knelt on the ground, but Ventus was already gone, along with the darkness. Sora began to tear up. Watching everything was extremely painful. This was the first time he'd experienced such a dreadful dream... No, this nightmare.

_"Someone got emotional!" Vanitas mocked looking at Sora _

Sora's eyes widened as he heard Vanitas, he turned around. "You can see me?" He answered in disbelief. How was that possible? Weren't these memories?

_"Yeah, I can. Too bad Ventus couldn't, he was too much of a coward to face me." Then Vanitas grinned evilly, "What you just saw was the past and you're going to relive it. __Now its your turn to suffer the same fate." _

"What?" Before Sora knew what he meant he was starting to be consumed by darkness as well, randomly forming around him. "No! Stop it!" He couldn't summon his keyblade at all. Well, at least in his dream he couldn't.

_"I will be part of you soon." Vanitas announced as he watched Sora being engulfed by darkness. _

"HELP!" Sora screamed as the darkness overcame him, not seeing light anymore.

_...Dream Ended..._

"Sora?!" Riku shook Sora roughly to wake him up, causing Sora to swiftly sit up, gasping and panting out of breath, sweat streaming down his face as a few tears manage to escape his eyes. He looked like he had been crying for awhile without realizing it.

"What's wrong, Sora? Were you having a nightmare?" Riku asked worriedly, putting a hand on his shoulder, unaware of the devastated state Sora was in.

"Riku? Is that you?" Sora couldn't tell who it was since its too dark, but he knew it was his best friend because Riku knew how to comfort him. And the window in the wall showed nothing but moonlight from the outside, brightly illuminating the silver hair that only Riku would have.

"Yeah, you okay? I heard you yelling." Riku stood up to turn the room's light on, his eyes widening as he saw Sora's watery face. "What happened?!" He exclaimed, rushing to Sora's side.

"Nothing... Just a bad dream." Sora wiped his tears away, ashamed that Riku caught him having a bad dream. Riku didn't have bad dreams so Sora shouldn't get them either.

"Want to talk about it?" Riku hugged Sora to comfort him, it hurt seeing Sora like that. It wasn't normal for him to have bad dreams, in fact it was rare.

"No, just silly stuff. Don't worry about it." Sora smiled faintly, putting his arm around Riku to return the hug. It did make Sora feel better, as if he wasn't alone.

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, you know that right?" Riku didn't believe him, he pulled away to look at Sora directly, but he caught him staring at the wall across the room, as if double checking whether something was there or not.

"What are you looking at?" Riku questioned looking at the wall also. He had heard about the earlier incident from Lea. It had Riku worried, Sora could be in great danger.

"Just making sure that I'm finally relaxed. But I'm okay Riku, you shouldn't worry too much," Sora grinned releasing Riku and laying back down with his arms behind his neck.

Riku sighed. "I can't help it. I'm worried about you. Is there anything I can help you with?" he offered.

Sora bit his lip, embarrassed by what he was about to ask, "Can you sleep with me?" He said, then rushed out, "Just for tonight I mean. If it's not too much trouble."

"Sure." Riku smiled softly, getting up to turn off the lights and walking back to the bed to lay besides Sora.

"Oh, you can take the bed Riku, I'll sleep on the floor." Sora was about to get up but stopped when Riku grabbed his arm.

"I don't mind, Sora. Its like when we were children, remember we would sleep in each other's beds? I would protect you from your nightmares," Riku stated, smiling at the memory.

"Yeah those were the best. You were like my dream catcher because I never I had a bad dream when you would sleep with me," Sora giggled.

There was silence after that until Sora spoke up. "How did you find out I was yelling anyway, you're in the upper level above me." Sora questioned, there was no way Riku could have heard him from his room.

"I wanted to check up on you since I didn't have a chance to see you much all day," Riku admitted, yawning, and started getting comfy on the bed. "Its a good thing I did."

"Thanks Riku, what would I do without you." Sora cheekily smiled, his heart warming from hearing that. Then he laid back down on the bed, scooting near the edge to give Riku plenty of space.

"Why are you so far away?" Riku raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, I just thought I should give you space..."

Riku rolled his eyes and brought Sora closer to him, not close enough for their bodies press together, but close enough to see each other's faces closely. Its a good thing it was dark, because a blush spread across Sora's cheeks as Riku lifted the sheets to cover them and then put his arm around Sora's shoulder.

"Just like when we were kids." Riku whispered. It had been long time since they slept together and didn't feel awkward at all, both were actually comfortable about it.

"Yeah... Thank you, Riku. Night," Sora said appreciatively, slowly dosing off. He felt better now that someone was near him, and was happy that it was Riku. He was the only person he could really count on.

Sora for sure would think about his dream tomorrow and find out what it meant, if those were actually memories. But for now he can just sleep without worrying since Riku was next to him.

"Anytime, Sora. Night." Riku brought him closer and tightened his hold on Sora, gently. He smiled when he heard Sora snoring peacefully. It looked like he wouldn't have a bad dream this time.

"I'll protect you, Sora. I promise." Riku stated seriously, and was starting to fall asleep, holding Sora protectively until he heard something coming from the wall across the room.

Riku didn't move from where he was, but glanced at the wall. After not hearing anything else he brushed it off and went back to falling asleep. But something was telling him to keep an eye on Sora from now on.

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**Author's Note...** Sorry if this chapter sounded confusing, the dream part at least. If you guys don't understand feel free to ask me so I can explain. And I'm so getting into this story, I got a cool idea for the next chapter already! Sora is going to think about his dream and what it meant. Also Vanitas makes another appearance to Sora...

Let me know what you think! And if any ideas please share or make suggestions! I sometimes take them into considerations!

**Read and Review Please!... **I'll go faster


	3. How could you?

Hope you enjoy the chapter! **Read and Review!**

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'...' Thinking

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Sora's eyes fluttered open, softly, as the sunlight was hitting him directly in his face. He groaned, exhausted, and tried to go back to sleep since he was still drained from last night. Then Sora suddenly remembered nightmare he had. He needed to figure out what exactly it was and why it happened.

But for now Sora decided to worry about that later, because he wanted to thank Riku for waking him up and comforting him. The brunette smiled and sat up so he could wake up his best friend.

He turned around, "Hey, Riku, wake-" Sora halted when he realized Riku was no longer in the bed. In fact, his half of the bedside of the sheets were neatly folded.

"Up..." Sora finished, frowning. He was a little disappointed, but honestly what did he expect? That Riku would be there next to him, laughing and pulling pranks on him? No, it wasn't like back when they were kids, it was different now. Both were mature and had responsibilities, there was no time for silliness anymore.

"He probably had an important mission to go on." He spoke out loud, bitterness coursing through his voice. Sora shook his head, firmly, and got up from the bed to stretch. He needed to do more training if he ever wanted to match up against Riku.

He walked to the door and opened it. But before he stepped out he glanced at the wall, and seeing nothing, he left the room.

Sora decided to go in the dinning room to eat breakfast since he was feeling hungry, then he would head to another world for training. When he reached the dining room, it was filled with chattering and laughter that suddenly stopped when Sora entered. Mickey was talking to Goofy and Donald, while Kairi was sitting next to Lea, and Riku was with them... Laughing.

The brunette was confused by the sudden silence that roamed across the room. "What's wrong, guys?" he questioned with a hint of concern. Sora suddenly felt like a complete stranger.

Kairi was the first to talk, "Sora, good morning!" She smiled but it looked forced, and Sora knew it due to being friends with her for a long time.

"How did you sleep?" Lea asked, causing the others to look at him surprise by the straight forward question. Which indicated that they knew what happened last night. But the only person who knew about his nightmare was Riku. No, he wouldn't...

'He told them', Sora thought. His breath was beginning to hitch and his whole body started to tremble, his hands becoming sweaty. How could Riku tell them?

"Fine. I'm heading out for training now," Sora replied, not feeling hungry anymore. He turn around to leave the room, walking quickly. He suddenly felt like an outcast and it hurt him deeply. Everyone was looking at Sora differently, like he was not okay. But what hurt Sora more was the fact that Riku told everyone, it was supposed to be a secret. Sora's heart was beginning to ache.

As Sora reached to the end of the hall that had the way out, he was stopped by someone grabbing his wrist. "Sora, wait!" He didn't have to turn around to know who the voice belonged to, but that wasn't going to stop him.

He glared at Riku. "How could you tell everyone?!" Sora shouted, his eyes getting watery as he gritted his teeth.

Seeing the anger in Sora's eyes made Riku feel guilty. "Sora, I'm sorry. I was worried about you and I just wanted the others to-" Riku was cut off, harshly.

"To what?! Feel sorry for me, to look after me! Do you see what you have done?! They looked at me differently, like I'm imagining everything. The nightmares and seeing Vanitas." Sora was not stupid, he knew for a fact that Lea told Riku about his meeting with Vanitas. "Now they're going to be watching me. I'm not weak, so you had no right to tell anyone! I trusted you, Riku, and you told everyone. I never told anyone about your struggle with darkness! The fact that you're still afraid it will consume you again!" A few tears manage to slip down Sora's cheeks. He couldn't hold it in anymore, it pained him too much. He felt betrayed.

Riku was beyond speechless. Sora had never yelled at him before, it was always the other way around. Riku suddenly felt awful. Sora was his best friend and the only person in the whole world Riku trusted. Riku would tell Sora his secrets and fears, and Sora wouldn't tell a soul. But Riku on the other hand? What did he do? He told everyone, and he had no right to. Massive guilt overcame him, he had just broken Sora's trust. "Sora, I-"

"Just forget it." Sora yanked his hand from Riku's grip and didn't bother to look at him as he turned around. Opening the big door and heading outside, the door slam echoing, and leaving Riku in massive turmoil with himself.

"Fuck!" Riku cussed loudly as he punched the stone wall besides him, not caring about the pain that was inflicted on his hand. The last thing he saw was Sora crying and that was something he never wanted to do again.

Riku gritted his teeth and fisted his hand as he punched the stone wall the second time, ignoring the pain once again, along with the blood droplets that fell onto the floor.

Everything was his fault. Riku fucked up.

* * *

Sora quickly went to another world. He didn't know which one he was going to, but he didn't care. He just needed to get away from the tower. From everyone, especially Riku.

The brunette quickly wiped away the tears that he couldn't hold back any longer. He couldn't believe he cried, he wasn't supposed to.

Sora took a deep breath and exhaled so he could calm himself down. Now wasn't the time to be sad and gloomy, Sora needed to train to become stronger. So no one could see him as a weakling and come to his aid.

When Sora finally calmed down he looked around his surroundings and knew automatically where he was. Radiant Garden.

Sora called out his keyblade as this world was known for having heartless the most. "Finally a challenge." He ran towards the town and grinned when he saw a familiar friend fighting a couple of heartless.

"Hey Leon!" Sora greeted as he slashed a heartless with no effort and stood behind Leon, back to back as they both eyed the black little monsters.

"Sora? Why am I not surprised," Leon smirked, glancing behind to look at the young keyblade wielder.

"Aww, come on. Admit that you're happy to see me!" Sora also glanced back, lifting his chin up to show a wide smile to Leon.

Leon rolled his eyes and went back to looking at the heartless that were in front of him, as did Sora. "Maybe someday," Leon said as he defeated a heartless that came to attack him. His weapon, or as he called it, the gunblade, was his best choice of weapons.

"How thoughtful of you," Sora said trying to be annoyed, but he snickered in the process, blowing his fake expression. He attacked two more heartless and saw that they were decreasing, rather quickly.

"Am I?" Leon killed the last heartless as he spoke in a nonchalant voice.

Sora panted. He wasn't tired... Was he? He was somewhat hungry, maybe he shouldn't have skipped breakfast. After regaining his breath, Sora put away his keyblade.

"Tired?" Leon questioned, eyebrow raised.

Sora shook his head. "Nah, I just got caught up in the moment," he lied smoothly, grinning.

Leon didn't seem convinced, but he wasn't going to press on. "I see. So what brings you here?"

"Training." Sora answered, shortly. "This world has a lot of heartless, so might as well train here!"

"Point taken. Well, if you're here to train then I suggest you go to the other side of Radiant Garden." Leon pointed to the other direction that led farther away. "There are stronger heartless than the ones we just defeated, and possibly nobodies. There's no point in defeating them if they're outside the town. My main priority is protecting here inside the town."

"Thanks for the tip, I'll take them down!" Sora smiled, determined, and summoned his keyblade. Leon nodded, and watched Sora starting to run to the direction he was told to go. He seemed too eager to get there.

"What an energetic kid. Too energetic." It would have sounded rude to strangers, but if you were a friend to Leon it was a compliment.

As Leon was about to look for more heartless since he was on patrol, he heard someone call out, "LEON!" He turned to see Yuffie running towards him in full speed.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" Leon asked. Yuffie was on lookout in the computer room, looking where the heartless would appear in the screen, showing the heartless location in Radiant Garden. If any were to be spotted she would have to send someone to patrol. Therefore, if she is out in the computer room that would indicate that something must have happened?

"The.. the-" Yuffie panted, out of breath, but she tried to ignored it. "The computer.. it went haywire. I thought it wasn't working so I unplugged it but when I connected back it didn't make sense!"

"What do you mean?" Leon was getting frustrated. Yuffie wasn't making sense.

"Instead of couple of heartless on an area shown on-screen, it showed an enormous black splotch, as if the computer made the ink mistake. But it's not! Something is out there!" She exclaimed quickly.

"Where is the location?!" There was no time to lose, they had to be prepared for anything.

Yuffie pointed to the direction that Sora went moments ago. "Over there!"

Leon's eyes widened in surprise, "What!? Sora went over there! Come on let's go!"

* * *

Sora kept running, he was almost there. He passed some trees and saw that he was already at the edge of town but saw nothing, except a forest.

"Where are they?" Did Leon make a mistake? "I didn't know there was a forest here," Sora mused, watching the dark green trees. "Maybe they're in the forest."

Just as he step into the forest, he felt something... Coldness and shocking? What the hell? Sora thought his mind was messing with him because of hunger so he continued entering deeper in forest. Then he didn't feel the shocking anymore. Weird?

Sora stopped at a certain area where there was nothing but grassland in the middle, trees surrounding him. He looked around and saw no heartless, not even nobodies.

"Really? What waste of time..." Sora sighed, lowering down his keyblade that he was holding in defense mode just in case anything came to attack him.

Suddenly Sora felt at ease. He was tired from last night, but he didn't want to admit it to Leon. He didn't want to worry others. Right now, what was on Sora's mind was the dream... Well, nightmare. What exactly was it? What did it mean? Sora didn't know...

"I don't know anything!" Sora exclaimed as he fisted his hands in frustration. How was he suppose to figured out anything or talk to anyone about it if they thought he was making it up in his freaking mind? "I bet no one believes me... not even Riku. They probably just think my nightmares are about darkness and that I'm getting afraid of it. But its not that.

"Its not that..." Sora repeated in a whisper.

"Then what is it?" An amused voice questioned behind Sora. The brunette gritted his teeth angrily, knowing full well the voice that spoke in a sarcastic tone.

Sora turned around, anger was getting the best out of him. Usually he wouldn't get angry because it wasn't in his nature, but lately everyone was making him so mad. And the person who started it all was across from him. Vanitas... the evil keyblade wielder.

"You!" Sora growled and raised his keyblade. "What do you want from me?! Leave me alone!" He shouted.

"Too soon to say. But the real questioned is, What do you want, Sora?'" Vanitas inquired, smirking.

That was enough for Sora to snap. He ran towards Vanitas, not caring what would happen to the look-alike, seeing that Vanitas was not wearing his helmet this time. Looking at those golden eyes that had nothing but sheer amusement.

"Like I'll tell someone like you!" He replied, no, he stated.

Sora swung his keyblade to attack Vanitas, but was met with another keyblade, clashing against one another. The same one that Sora saw yesterday when he was about to be attack by Vanitas. Sora's eyes widened in realization as he examined Vanitas' black keyblade. Why hadn't he noticed before? It was the exact same one as his dream. That can't be possible? Well, it could be if they were memories... But even so, it was a long time ago, how can Vanitas still have the same keyblade after so long.

'I would have gotten a new stronger one by now," Sora thought, 'So why didn't he do that?' He continued thinking. Something wasn't adding up.

Vanitas was defeated long time ago by Aqua as Sora recalls Master Yen Sid telling him. Right? Sora didn't know for sure if Xehanort actually brought Vanitas back, it was a possibility but no one but Vanitas knew the answer.

The main question that was filtering in his mind, just became the most important one.

"Just where did you come from?" Sora asked.

* * *

**Author's Note...** I just want to say I'm sorry for not updating sooner, I was supposed to updated this chapter three Sunday's ago but my mind slipped with summer school. Sorry... Anyways I'm done with summer school and now back to regular college, sucks... This week was the first week of college so I adjusted to my schedule again so back to normal! Now I can update often!

Anyways, if this chapter sounds confusing, or you guys don't understand feel free to ask me so I can explain.

Let me know what you think! And if any ideas please share or make suggestions! I sometimes take them into considerations!

**Read and Review Please!... **I'll go faster


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